Graham Thorpe continuing his fine series.

LOL, I hadn't appreciated it was Thorpe's video. WTF?

What would have been Gatting’s reply if this was done in his days?

Lol

Or Silverwood, as he is bit of a porker

Money is on Robinson. Apparently his conduct has been shocking (even for a private school twit).

Bohannon, Crane and Parkinson.

Crane of course played Shield cricket for New South Wales and not Parkinson (as I earlier posited incorrectly).

He does seem like a ******* tool

Maybe. You would think that with Bairstow being a senior member of the party & Robinson being quite the newbie, it’s more likely to have been Bairstow to have refused…

Yes.

I'm not sure where I stand on the coaching staff calling him out a bit for his fitness, but I get the impression that was probably a last chance for him to realise how serious it is.

get me a prawn curry!!!:lux::lux:

Thing is, if it’s part of a fitness assessment, how comes he’s not obliged/contracted to do it?

Sounds like the management team is piss-weak.

Difficult to judge a player on county performance. A lot of 'great' England players performed better at international level like Botham and Gower. When Fletcher was in charge it was apparent that he was generally looking at players who he felt had the right attitude which led to Trescothick coming through when his record possibly didn't make him the obvious choice. We've moved away from that and certainly dispensed with players like Morgan too quickly at test level. He had some issues but probably would have overcome them and certainly was up for the challenge that test cricket brings.

I think first and foremost certain players need ditching, either permanently or at least for a good period. Burns, Hameed, Malan Buttler, Pope, Woakes (Away) are immediate names that spring to mind. I also think we need a change of captaincy. I'd like to see this side given a chance:

1. ???
2. Crawley
3. Livingstone
4. Root
5. Stokes
6. Bairstow
7. Foakes
8. Rhodes
9. Robinson
10. Broad
11. Anderson

the seam bowlers from 9-11 we're pretty well stocked, could sub any of those out for Wood, and I think Mahmood at Lancs is a great talent that should come in at some point, and Sam Cook at Essex has to be knocking on the door as well, but thats hardly where the issues lie.

I'd like to see Livingstone get a shot at test cricket, he has a decent first class average and has adapted seamlessly to the white ball game at international level. Plus he bowls part-time spin at a slightly better level than Root, and the two of them would cover our spin department in my team. Parkinson or Virdi might be the spin answer long term, but think we just have to accept that we don't have a good spinner right now, and might as well go with a couple of adequate part-time options. Number 3 is not ideal for his game, but Root wants to play 4, and can't see Stokes or Bairstow playing 3 either.

Foakes imo is a no brainer selection, better keeper than Buttler, better batsman. If they go with billings or recall Buttler it would be a traversty in my opinion.

My big selection is Rhodes, and the intention would be for him to take over the captaincy after a few games. He has a good first class record, would be a useful 8 in test cricket and probably a somewhat part-time bowler, but more important he has experience of captaining a successful side. Root is a wonderful player but a rubbish captain, let's unburden him of the responsibility and let him go back to doing what he does best, scoring runs.

The ??? at number one, well I'm really not sure. Rob Yates has been touted, and he looked fantastic last season, and I've already said on this thread that I'm still a fan of Sibley, but it's a position we've failed to address for years upon years and I'm just not sure which way we should go with it. Even Crawley is debatable, but just think he showed enough towards the end of the Ashes to be given more of a go.

Often thought that, a natural leader Morgan and someone you'd want in the trenches, not prolific, but useful knocks.

At 35 and with a dodgy back, you'd assume the test arena has passed him by, but I'm sure he'll fancy a last hurrah at the world cup.

Blimey, just heard Katherine Brunt say that the current Women's Ashes Test (Australia currently well on top) would be a 'completely different scenario' if more than one England batter had scored runs & if England had've held their catches.

No doubt they'll look to do better, moving forward.